Package and method of manufacture thereof



Aug. 1, 1967 H. AMATEL PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed Sept. 21, 1965 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 w m l 3 F l F O 2 a Q w m Q O 2 W: [Lil a a a M. m B

INVENTOR HAROLD AMATEL ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,333,756 PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF Harold Amatel, Verona, N.J., assignor to Continental Packaging Corp, Kenilworth, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 488,962 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-14) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A packaging construction formed from a rectangular blank without production of trimmings, utilizing the entire blank in formation of the package and end closures folded by aid of scarfs or creases and slits producing accordion compressed end closures hingedly integral with one panel of the package and depressible into the end opening provided by the several panels folded into the package fonnation.

Specification This invention relates in general to packages of corrugated material, and more particularly to packages for breakable or somewhat fragile or delicate objects, such as vacuum bottles, fluorescent, incandescent or other lamp bulbs, radio and other electronic tubes, and various other articles of manufacture.

In its general aspect, the invention teaches an improved use of corrugated-board in fabrication of a simple, inexpensive, highly serviceable, shape-retaining, versatile package.

Broadly considered, an object of the invention is to provide an improved package capable of fabrication in its entirety from a single blank, which, when properly cut and folded will constitute the complete package.

Supplemental to the foregoing objects, the invention provides for end closures for the package performing a plurality of functions.

More specifically, the invention proposes a closure integral with the body portion of the package and foldable into interlocked closed position therewith.

A feature of the invention is to provide end closures that will have an inherent resiliency both to retain the same in closed position and to provide resilient padding for the ends of an article inserted in the package prior to final closing of the package.

An accomplishment of the present invention is providing an end closure not only having the afore-stated beneficial purposes, but in addition having a transverse rigidity capable of both maintaining the body portion of the package in shape and resistive to crushing.

Desirability of a package utilizing self-sufiicient material of economical character, readily formed by machine operations, durable in use and expandable at the site of unpacking has been observed in the inventive concept.

A further object of the invention is to provide a package of practical construction and to provide a practical method of fabrication thereof.

Other objects, advantages and beneficial results obtained by the invention both as to structural features and method of manufacture will appear to persons skilled in the art to which it appertains by direct recitation thereof in the following description and by implication from the context as well as by visual indication thereof provided by the drawing.

Heretofore packaging of such articles as lamps, vacuum bottles and the like has been with open-end cartons, designedly made small enough to squeeze against the article and be held thereon by the frictional contact therebe- 3,333,756 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 ice tween. This mode of packaging has its short-comings or bad features in that the articles frequently slip inadvertently from the package and become broken, and also the squeezing of the package wall against the article not only tends to mis-shape the package, but very materially reduces the padding efiiciency and because of the high point or bulge of the package thereat, the article is often broken by external pressure applied thereat.

While the present invention is adaptable to various shapes and sizes of packages, the particular showing herein has been arbitrarily selected as a long package of rectangular though specifically square cross-section, of a character for, and with example of use for, retention and shipment of fluorescent lamps, but without confining the concept specifically thereto. With this generalization of the more universal scope of the invention in mind, the chosen exemplification thereof as represented by the drawings is embodied in the several views accompanying this specification, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a completely formed and closed package as it appears in use;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the package, broken away intermediate of its ends, and showing the end closures open for reception of an article of manufacture, example of which is indicated to be, by partial showing thereof, a fluorescent lamp;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational and partially sectional view of the package, again broken away between its ends, and showing the fluorescent lamp within the package and both end closures in their closed positions;

FIGURE 4 is a partial end view of the package illustrating the mode of accordion compression and folding of the wall portions to utilize the same as an end closure;

FIGURE 5 is a plan of the extended blank from which the package is formed, illustrating by dash-lines the scarfs or creases made thereon for subsequent folds, and illustrating with solid lines preliminary cuts or slits made in the blank before folding;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the blank with a somewhat exaggerated indicated direction of folding on the scarfs of FIG. 5;

FIGURE 7 shows in full lines initial foldings made on the blank to seal the two originally remote panels together and showing the following expansion, by dotted lines, of the folded and united panels into a tubular formation;

FIGURE 8 is an end view showing the beginning of the operation of accordion folding the end portions of the side panels to constitute the end closure; and

FIGURE 9 shows said end portions approaching final condition of accordion folding.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the package is one formed from a single blank of cardboard of corrugated type with the corrugations exposed at the inside of the completed package. A feature of the invention is the provision of terminal tucks or end closures which interlock with the corrugations of the side Walls or panels and form end cushions of resilient and protective as well as retentive character for an article, susceptible to damage in handling or transit, which has been loaded into the package. The drawings show the completed package as square in cross-section, but this precise dimensional and geometric configuration is not to be considered as restrictive, as other rectangular dimensions and other geometric configurations may be utilized when found desirable. In order that the invention may be understood, however, detail description will be given of the arbitrarily selected showing appearing in the drawings.

The package is constructed from a completely rectangular blank 15 not requiring any corner or other cut-outs either in formative operations or in any stage of utilization. With the particular package here shown, the blank is scored or creased longitudinally throughout its length with scarfs or fold-lines 16 spaced apart and parallel to each other for dividing the blank into a plurality of panels for conveniencedesignated individually by numerals 17, 18, 19 and 20, of which panels 17 and are most remote to each other in the blank and panels 18 and 19' are therebetween and next to each other. One of said remote panels, as 17 in this showing, has an edge strip longitudinally thereof divided therefrom also by one of the fold lines 16, said edge strip constituting a longitudinal lip 21 for ultimately lapping over and being sealed to the opposite remote margin of blank or panel 20 in the complete package. The direction of said longitudinal scoring is transverse to the corrugations of the material constituting the blank.

The opposite end portions of each panel are to be utilized as end closures for the package, and for convenience the respective said end portions are designated with numerals 17a, 18a, 19a and 20a, and the corresponding length of the lip end portions with numeral 21a. As the constructions at both ends of the panels are the same, description of one end will suffice as explanatory of both, and corresponding reference numerals are accordingly employed. In the particular mode of fabrication selected for disclosure herein, the first panel 17 with which lip 21 is integrally formed, has a transverse slit 22 therethrough and thereacross and also across the lip, defining the beginning of end portion 17a of the panel and 21a of the lip, said transverse slit 22 extending entirely across the lip as well as from one to the other of the longitudinal scarfs 16 at opposite sides of said first panel 17. The distance of the transverse'slit 22 from the outer end of end portion 17a is made agreeable to the width of the next adjacent panel 18 so then when folding is completed, the said end portion 17a will have a form and dimensions such that it will entirely fill the end configuration of the package.

Considering the other panels involved in the construction, the next panel 18 in sequence to the above-mentioned first panel, will be called, for convenience, the second panel, and transversely thereacross is given a slit 23 as an extension of and in alignment with the above-described transverse slit 22 of the first panel. The third panel 19 in sequence, which may be designated the basal panel, has a scarf 24 impressed thereon transverse thereto and in alignment with the afore-mentioned slits 22 and 23 of the first two panels 17 and 18. Scarf 24 just mentioned extends entirely across said basal panel 19 from one to the other of the longitudinal scarfs 16 bordering said basal panel. The fourth panel 20 in the sequence of panels, like the first and second ones, has a transverse slit 25 leading from the end of said transverse scarf 24 of the basal panel 19 and extending entirely across said fourth panel to the outer or remote edge thereof. It will thus be recognized that the transverse slits 22, 23 and 25 are all in alignment with each other and with the transverse scarf 24 of the basal panel 19. All of the described scarfs and slits are made while the blank remains extended, that is, before folding.

Also before folding the blank as an initial fabrication operation, substantially simultaneously with formation of the longitudinal scarfs 16 the said second panel end portion 18a is impressed with an intermediate scarf 26 medially between the side scarfs 16 of that end portion and for a length extending from said slit 23 to the outer extremity of said end portion. A similar and equally short scarf 27 extending inwardly of end portion 20a of the fourth in sequence of the panels is impressed medially between the last of the longitudinal scarfs and the final longitudinal edge of the blank therebeyond.

With all of the scarfs and slits made as described above, and as indicated accomplished in FIG. 5, the blank is ready for its final fabrication operation at its location of manufacture before delivery to its place of use. Said final fabrication operation is indicated in FIG. 7 as having been performed, namely, the two remote panels 17 and 20 are folded on their crease lines or scarfs 16 dividing them from the respective adjacent intermediate or second and third panels 18, 19 respectively, to lie flatwise against those two panels. Lip 21 at the same time is overlapped onto said panel 20 in such manner that the outermost edge of said panel 20 and the scarf 16 between the lip and its adjoining panel 17 are in registration. Having attained that position, the lip is secured to the underlying panel 20 by adhesives or otherwise. So made, the package has a double thickness of panels, but is relatively flat, and therefore a quantity may be conveniently stacked, bundled, transported or shipped and occupy minimum space. All material of the original oblong blank is retained and embodied as part of the completed package.

When the recipient of the flat packages desires to make use of one, as for instance, to receive a fluorescent lamp 28, the package is bent on all four of its longitudinal scarfs 16 into the form of a rectangular tube, as indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 7. The respective end portions 17a, 180:, 19a and 20a likewise assume the rectangular tubular form. By virtue of the intermediate short scarfs 26 and 27, the two panel end portions 18a and 20a having the same, may be pressed inwardly toward each other as indicated in progress in FIG. 8, to start the accordion collapsing of those end portions, which continues progressively as indicated in FIGS. 2, 3,4 and 9, to substantially flatten said end portions with a quadruple thickness and secured to the rest of the package at the transverse fold-line or scarf 19 which functions as a hinge. The accordion compressed end portions as a unit may then be swung into the adjacent tubular end of the package, and appropriate dimensions having been selected, will fit therein. Since the corrugations of the side panels are circumambient to and exposed Within the package, the several edges of the said unit will engage within proximate corrugations and be frictionally and resiliently held thereby, thus constituting the accordion compressed unit a complete closure hingedly integral at one side and resiliently and frictionally engaged or interlocked with the corrugations on its other three sides. By virtue of the plurality of panel thicknesses constituting the closure, there will be a plurality of edges at each of those sides thereof in engagement with a corresponding plurality of corrugations of the tubular package, thus obtaining a strong retention of the closure in place. Likewise, the plurality of thicknesses of the closure, located within the tubular package, not only act as strong transverse supports for the sides of the package, but keep the package in its rectangular shape. The plurality of thicknesses of the closure also supply protection for the end of the article within the package as well as positively preventing the article from inadvertently sliding out of the package. The structure and mode of manufacture of the improved package of the present invention is one which lends itself to rapid and complete fabrication without cut-outs that might become entangled, and also one conducive to immediate reception of an article'of manufacture on the same machine and closing of the package immediately so as to deliver the loaded package as the ultimate product discharged from the machine.

I claim:

1. A package of the character described, comprising a completely rectangular blank with all of the blank utilized as the package and its closure, and with said closure formed as an integral part of the package, said blank having a plurality of longitudinal scarfs from end to end of the blank thereby defining a plurality of package-forming panels, end portions of all but one of said panels having transverse slits constituting said end portions of the panels as a multi-ply end closure, two of said end portions having individual medial scarfs enabling said end portions to be accordion collapsed as a unitary closure, and said one panel having a scarf in the plane of said slits on which the accordion-collapsed closure is folded into closing position at the end of the package.

7 2. A package blank having a completely rectangular configuration and having a plurality of parallel scarfs longitudinally thereof for ultimately constituting the corner edges of a package formed from said blank and with panels forming the sides of the package between said corners, said blank having a transverse scarf across one of said panels between two of said parallel scarfs, and having slits aligned with said transverse scarf for providing an end closure for the package.

3. A package blank in accordance with claim 2, wherein short scarfs parallel to and between two of said parallel scarfs are provided to extend from said slits to the edge of the blank providing of accordion collapsing thereat in formation of said closure.

4. A package blank in accordance with claim 2, wherein of three of said panels two respectively are on opposite sides of said one panel and a third panel of the three is adjacent to one of said two panels, said three panels only all having said aligned slits, whereby said slits traverse two adjacent panels and traverse a single panel spaced by said one panel from the two that are adjacent to each other. 1

5. A package blank in accordance with claim 4, wherein only said two panels have short scarfs extending parallel to the aforesaid parallel scarfs medially of the respective panel and extending transversely of and from a said slit to the edge of the blank, thereby providing for accordion collapsing thereat 0n formation of said closure.

6. A method of fabricating a package, comprising forming a tubular structure with panel sides and a transverse scarf on one of said panel sides, making slits on the other panel sides in alignment with said transverse scarf, forming scarfs transverse to said slits in two of said panel sides, accordion collapsing said two panel sides beyond said slits to constitute a closure, and folding on the first said transverse scarf to introduce the closure into the end of the tubular structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 484,627 10/ 1892 Chapin 229- 1,559,834 11/ 1925 Zalkine 229-37 1,929,918 10/ 1933 Dreyer et a1. 229-51 1,955,835 4/ 1934 Samstag 206-4 2,067,126 l/ 1937 Knaur 206-46 X 2,206,596 7/1940 Brown 229-14 2,286,647 6/ 1942 Roberts 206-453 1 2,393,734 l/ 1946 Beardsall. 2,690,254 9/1954 White 229-90 X JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. DAVID T. MOORHEAD, Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, COMPRISING A COMPLETELY RECTANGULAR BLANK WITH ALL OF THE BLANK UTILIZED AS THE PACKAGE AND ITS CLOSURE, AND WITH SAID CLOSURE FORMED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PACKAGE, SAID BLANK HAVING A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINAL SCARFS FROM END TO END OF THE BLANK THEREBY DEFINING A PLURALITY OF PACKAGE-FORMING PANELS, END PORTIONS OF ALL BUT ONE OF SAID PANELS HAVING TRANSVERSE SLITS CONSTITUTING SAID END PORTIONS OF THE PANELS 